Ice fishing is universal

Today I realized something about ice fishing. No matter what walk of life that you come from, you will be generally accepted. Black, white, tall, short, heavy set, thin, rich, poor, young, middle age, or quite old,
Think about it… you can be quite heavy and not very much of a athelete but with all the clothes on were all the same… You don’t need a $35000 bass boat to be competitive, just a few lures, bucket, poles auger…
I met a couple of guys out on the ice, asked them how they were doing & ended up spending the rest of the afternoon sharing jokes & small talk & exchanging cards at the end of the day.

I agree. I have met some pretty good people from all walks of life on the ice in the last few years. There are still a few that make you say “Huh???”. But for the most part the people are usually friendly and willing to chat. That’s the thing about ice fishing, people are generally fishing closer together in groups and are out to have a good time. When the soft water hits, it seems that attitudes change as well. Boaters tend to guard there “spots” with their life and are unwilling to share ideas, spots, techniques that were effective, or what they caught. It is something I don’t understand, and probably never will. I guess that is why I would never make it being a pro bass/walleye tournament fisherman

You’re not kidding about that. Last Friday night, over at the MAC, Gianni and I were joined by some fellas in their late teens and early 20s. All their jokes and stories reminded me of when I was their age, and depressingly, that I am getting old, when I realized its been 16 years since I was that age!

Nice to see younger guys getting into the sport. Between my vex and Gianni’s zercom, we were the center of attention. Lots of joking and good times out there. Gianni had one nice comeback, something about, “you are what you eat…” I’ll leave it at that.

Regards,

Joe

What happens at MacBride, stays at MacBride.

Yeah, that’s one of the things that makes ice fishing fun–it is far more of a social event than open-water fishing usually is, and everyone is on a more equal footing. This past Saturday, I was up at Forest Lake, MN, for an ice fishing contest. Six thousand people confined to about ten acres of lake competing for a new truck, new boat, new ATVs, and $10,000 cash, plus cheap beer sales, yet everyone was friendly–I didn’t see a single fight or harsh word, even though we were all fishing no more than ten feet away from another person. BTW, I missed out on the ten grand by 2/100 of a lb.